Hi Ok this is me speaking as a 'pommi','limey', Brit or what ever else you want to call me (btw I find Brit annoying in that I'm British from Britain). I also was and still am the skinnyest person in school (not now i'm 39) and so was picked on and called all sorts until I stood up to the bullies. What I did learn however was that 'whats in a name' like I said if you give a 'power' to a name some ....people will use it against you just let it ride they will soon get fed up with calling names. OK now back to the main point......which I belive is people are lazy in that if they can contract something they will. An example being (e.g.) ASAP how many times do you here this or "as soon as...". Languages change and so do the conotations(sp) Swear words for instance if a **** word is used too much it tends to loose it's shock value, how many times have you said s..t and no ones batted an eyelid but if you said 'sod' to your grandmother all hell would have broken loose! Also most times it's not the words it's how they are spoken that matters , anyone remember ALF and Shazbot! to get back to the point tho' Jap is one syllable and Japanese is 3 like I said people are lazy or sometimes they shorten words for speed (ASAP again ) forinstance radio calls etc. It just beggers belief that some people let others rattle them. just me Dave the skinny limey pommie rake bean pole match with clothes on etc etc (call me what ever)